Our new friend the Dutchman.

---

Thursday we looked at more trailers, then on friday we drove into Orlando to meet Tom who had a 2004 31ft Dutchman travel trailer for sale.
It had everything we wanted, 4 bunks, 1 slide that the couch and table are in.plenty of storage space and Tom had also built an extra cupboard where there was some space for pots and shelves for tin foods etc. It also came with the anti-sway bars hitch , that stops the trailer from waving around as much when we drive along.
So after a short negotiation, he proceeded to show us all how it works and what we needed to know. We hooked her on and off we went.
Found a space for it at Mum and Dads.Chris arrived up from West Palm Beach on friday night. We had an early night as we planned to get up at 4.30am to drive over to Cocoa beach to watch the space shuttle take off. At 4.00am Chris came in to say the launch had been cancelled due to a gas leak. BUGGER !! so then we all tried to go back to sleep.

Saturday , we spent the whole day just cleaning out the trailer and putting our stuff in. Amazing how much space is in it . Mum had a lot of stuff saved for us, Kylie went to Walmart and bought some containers to organise our stuff in. The kids sorted out who was going to sleep where. They have got 2 matresses on the bottom bunk and the top bunk is going to be used for storing all their clothes in containers. which seems to be working. It came with a tv in it, not that weve had a chance to get it going yet. Leanna, Christopher and Johnathon arrived in the afternoon as they had stayed the night over in Cocoa beach as we were going to meet them for the launch .After tea Christopher, josh, Dad and I went to the Citrus County Speedway. $30 bucks for a family.Its a tar sealed, 1/4 mile track with a figure 8 in the middle. Banked quite steep to get around the corners obviously. There would have been 500 people there. Beautiful warm night to sit outside. I had just shorts and a tee shirt on at 9.00pm . As kylie always laughs about, the stockcar bogeens must be the same the world over. There were young girls with tight jeans, cowboy boots,and tanktops on . Cruising around the track getting chatted up by the boys !!
Mum said she didnt want to come as it was too loud. I said if its too loud to you're too old !! Bugger me it was loud alright. Certainly way over the 90db we are allowed at home, also being on tar seal i think made it noisier.Pretty calm racing, every time someone spun out , they would yellow flag the race, the mustang pace car would come out and they would restart the race with everyone back in order. They had ministocks racing but not as we know it. Stockcars are grunting all out V8's that look like saloon cars and ministocks are a smaller motor version of that. The best race of the night was the last of the night, the figure 8 race. Yes about 12 cars start the race and race around a figure of 8, well it doesnt take long to work out that someone is going to meet at the intersection after a while. They miss each other at full speed by metres sometimes, Excellent to watch. Dad said they have big yellow bus figure 8 races, theres one in a couple of weeks time but I doubt we will still be her .
Our 1st night in the trailer was alright, you can feel everytime Josh tosses and turns over in his bunk. I had the air con set too high, so we all sweated and threw oursheets off, i was up and down during the night trying to get that set at a nice temperature. Josh wacked his head on the cupboards beside him 4 times. Very comfortable beds though. Today we went and FINALLY bought some bikes. Josh and I bought 2 mountain bikes the same, exceptfor the colour. Kylie and Tori bought the same ones except for the size and colour. Chris and Leanna bought up their Nana looking cruising bikes(we call them ). they are very comfortable to ride but look like something out of the 50's. Chris also bought up his trikes. They have to be seen to be believed. It takes a bit of getting used to but once you get the hang of how to make them go, they go good. Ill have to show you a photo.
We went to state park in the afternoon , not far from here for a swim in a lake . The part we swam in was seperated off with markers and they had 2 life gaurds on. we bought noodles for $3 each and just mucked around. The water is 75 degrees all year round, so when the air temperature is 90 odd it feels quite cold ( just like Taupo ) but in the winter they all swim in it because its still 75 degrees. We had just got out when we had an awesome thunder storm comeover. Because we are very tropical here. You get really heavy short downpours.Its like a firehose being pointed at you. You just get drenched. So we took shelter for a while, it passed over and the sun came out.
Poor mum has been cooking for 11 of us. We had roast chickens plus veges tonight, sometimes we sit outside over looking the lake. Then of course we have pudding, Peaches, ice cream,( gluten free of course) and some nice dish that Josh loves, whipped cream in a container. Hope they enjoy it cause they wont be getting that once we hit the road.
Weve been looking out the back for a "GATOR" but still havent seen any. Last night I found one, It was about a foot long baby one. Its mother musn't have been far away !!

---